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 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual

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7
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Processes, Organizations,
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..
and Information Systems

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Describe the basic types of processes.

2. Explain how information systems can improve process quality.
3. Explain how enterprise information systems eliminate the problem of information
silos.
4. Describe how CRM, ERP, and EAI support structured enterprise processes.
5. List the elements of an ERP system.
6. Explain the challenges of implementing new enterprise information systems.
7. Describe how inter-enterprise information systems solve the problems of enterprise
silo.
8. Discuss implications of enterprise systems in the cloud in 2023.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

▪ What are the basic types of processes?

o How do structured processes differ from dynamic processes?
o How do processes vary by organizational scope?
▪ How can information systems improve process quality?
o How can processes be improved?
o How can information systems improve process quality?
▪ How do information systems eliminate the problem of information silos?
o What are the problems of information silos?
o How organizations solve the problems of information silos?
o An enterprise system for patient discharge
▪ How do CRM, ERP, and EAI support enterprise processes?
o The need for business process engineering
o Emergence of enterprise application solutions
o Customer relationship management (CRM)
o Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
o Enterprise application integration (EAI)
▪ What are the elements of an ERP system?
o ERP application programs
o ERP databases
o Business process procedures
o Training and consulting

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 2

o Industry-specific solutions
o What companies are the major ERP vendors?
▪ What are the challenges of implementing new enterprise information systems?
o Collaborative management
o Requirements gaps
o Transition problems
o Employee resistance
▪ How do inter-enterprise IS solve the problems of enterprise silos?
▪ 2023?

Using MIS InClass 7

Improving the Process of Making Paper Airplanes

1. Discuss the objectives of the assembly line. If you were in charge of an assembly line
like this one, do you think your objectives would be efficiency or effectiveness?
Specify the measures used to monitor progress toward your objective(s).

The objective of this assembly line is focused on effectiveness—the stated goal of the
exercise is to create 20 high-quality paper airplanes. Efficiency (speed) is not a stated
goal.

You may discover that your students try to work quickly and implicitly strive toward
a speedy performance of their tasks. This is because the measures that are included in
the exercise (measuring time elapsed) suggest that efficiency is a goal. This
illustrated the poor fit between the stated goal (effectiveness) and the measures
applied (time = efficiency).

A more useful measure for the stated goal is quality of the final paper airplanes.
Rather than have observers serve as time keepers, they should be used to evaluate the
exactness of the folds in the airplanes, and record the number of airplanes that pass
the quality standards and the number that fail the quality standards. This measure is
much more in line with the explicit goal stated in the exercise.

2. Assume that the WC folding is done by four machines. In that scenario, the second
run uses different software than the first run. Does this new IS improve an activity,
linkage, or control?

This IS would be providing control over the process by enforcing the work rules that
are applied in the second run.

3. Are any data in an information silo on the first or second runs?

The performance of each individual work station is kept separately from the others—
which suggests an information silo.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 3

4. Which measure changed most significantly from the first to the second run? Did you
anticipate this? Are other processes with other measures just as subject to change
with a similar minor change in information?

The second run will require more time since the workers’ performance will have to be
more synchronized. A worker at a station with more exacting folds (downstream)
will take more time than the upstream stations; but the upstream stations cannot just
keep folding and filling up their WIP boxes—they must wait until their WIP box is
empty. So there will be more dependency between the stations in the second run and
it will take longer.

5. Were there any controls on the assembly process? Could an IS improve the process
by improving control? On which measure(s) will this improvement appear?

There were no real controls in the first run. Workers simply performed their tasks
until the signal that the 20th airplane completed was received. In the second run, the
workers’ performance was constrained by the work rules that were applied, but no
real controls were in place. If our stated goal remains effectiveness (quality), the
output of each station could be evaluated for quality before being passed to the next
station. An IS could record the results of the quality inspection at each station and
identify areas where quality performance is weak.

USING YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1. Using the example of your university, give examples of information systems for each
of the three levels of scope shown in Figure 7-4. Describe three departmental
information systems that are likely to duplicate data. Explain how the characteristics
of information systems in Figure 7-4 relate to your examples.

• Departmental – Universities may have several levels of student financial aid

systems that track applications for financial aid, awards of financial aid, and usage
of financial aid awards. Some financial aid may be awarded by individual
academic departments in the university (e.g., accounting, MIS) or the university’s
athletic programs (e.g., football, volleyball). There may also be college-level
systems for administering the awarding of scholarships that are controlled by each
college. A university-level system may exist for administering the awarding of
university-level scholarships. These examples of workgroup systems illustrate
systems that have grown up to serve a specific group of users and that incorporate
specific procedures designed to meet the needs of each group. Each workgroup
understands its own procedures, but probably does not understand the procedures
of other similar systems that serve other workgroups. Even though the systems
deal with monetary awards granted to students, they may be very different from
each other. There will be a significant amount of duplicated data between these
systems, primarily student-related data. Inconsistency of the data can lead to

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 4

problems. Change of these systems affects the workgroup.

• Enterprise – The employee benefits administration system is used by virtually all
members of the university in some way. Use is formalized and strict procedures
are needed. There should be very little data duplication and difficult to change.
• Inter-enterprise – The systems used by university food service operations to order
supplies for the university food service facilities have many users across multiple
organizations. Problems and problem resolution affect multiple organizations.
It’s difficult to change; coordination amongst independent organizations is
required.
(LO: 1, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise
resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

2. In your answer to question 1, explain how the three workgroup information systems
create information silos. Describe the kinds of problems that those silos are likely to
cause. Use Figure 7-5 as a guide.

When financial aid / scholarship information systems are developed to serve the
needs of a specific, small group of users, each system will develop with particular
data and procedures pertinent to each group. Academic departments will create
systems for their needs; athletic departments will create systems for their needs, the
colleges will develop systems for their needs, and on and on. These systems are
definitely information silos.

There is no question that these various financial aid / scholarship systems have
significant amounts of data duplication. As a result, data inconsistency is a real
concern. Disjointed processes are very likely because each academic department,
athletic program, and college awards its own scholarships independently of
university-level scholarships, and other types of financial aid may be encompassed in
an entirely separate system. Information will be limited and will not be easily
integrated. Decisions may be very isolated; for example, two colleges might offer
scholarships to a sought-after high school student and may not realize they are
“competing” for the same student, leading to organizational inefficiency. (LO: 3,
Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise resource
planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

3. Using your answer to question 2, describe an enterprise information system that will
eliminate the silos. Would the implementation of your system require process
reengineering? Explain why or why not.

A comprehensive scholarship and financial aid system could be created that would
utilize a database of shared resources. Academic department, athletic programs, and
colleges would use the system to award their scholarships. At the university level,
scholarships, grants, loans, work-study awards would be awarded and administered.
Because of the shared database, data about students is no longer duplicated in many
places and is much more accessible and accurate. I don’t believe that process-
reengineering would be necessary in this case, but all users of the system will have to

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 5

change their procedures to conform to the requirements of the new system. (LO: 4,
Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise resource
planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

4. Using the patient discharge process in Figure 7-7, explain how the hospital benefits
from an ERP solution. Describe why integration of patient records has advantages
over separated databases. Explain the value of an industry-specific ERP solution to
the hospital.

An integrated ERP solution is very beneficial in the hospital setting. For patient
discharge, the physician can use a discharge application that triggers processing in
other related applications to accomplish all of the notifications outlined in Figure 7-5.
Because the applications use an integrated database, there is little chance of anything
being lost or overlooked. If the discharge should get cancelled later, the integration is
immediately beneficial in notifying the various parties of the change in status. An
ERP solution tailored to a hospital environment is extremely useful because this
organizational setting is unique and has many processes that are not applicable to
other organizational environments. (LO: 5, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of
enterprise systems and enterprise resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

5. Consider the PRIDE system. Describe the information silos that exist prior to the
implementation of PRIDE. Summarize problems caused by these silos. Explain how
PRIDE eliminates information silos.

Prior to the implementation of PRIDE, data pertaining to patients, their exercise

prescriptions, and their exercise performance and progress are in information silos.
The physician can prescribe exercise regimens for their patients, but these
prescriptions are transmitted to patients, their families/caregivers, and possibly
personal trainers/health clubs, in paper form. These paper forms are easily lost and so
are not immediately accessible to those who need to see them. If the patient joins a
health club or hires a personal trainer, the health club/personal trainer will have
records of the patient’s exercise performance and progress, but this data is not
available to the physician or family/caregivers. Finally, any exercise performed by
the patient at home may be recorded by the exercise equipment, but this data is not
available to the physician, family/caregivers, or to the health club/personal trainer.
The lack of integrated information means that it is much more difficult to have an
accurate understanding of the patient’s exercise prescription and his/her performance
and progress.

The PRIDE project makes it possible for all of this data to be stored in the cloud and
made available through various applications to the parties that need the information.
Each interested party (physician, patient, family/caregiver, and personal trainer/health
club) will have the ability to add data to the PRIDE and to view the appropriate
information from PRIDE. This will enable a much more comprehensive program of
care for the patient and much more accurate oversight of the patient’s recovery

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 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 6

progress. (LO: 3, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and
enterprise resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

6. Google or Bing each of the five vendors in Figure 7-19. In what ways have their
product offerings changed since this text was written? Do those vendors have new
products? Have they made important acquisitions? Have they been acquired? Have
any new companies made important inroads into their market share? Update Figure
7-19 with any important late-breaking news.

Student answers will vary depending on when this exercise is performed. A review of
ERP trends at the end of 2012 found several notable items:

• An increasing interest in ERP SaaS and cloud-based ERP continues eroding the
market share of Tier I ERP vendors such as SAP and Oracle, especially among
small and mid-size customers.

• Best-of-breed solutions will continue to chip away at single-system ERP software.

With more companies moving away from big, single-system ERP deployments,
there will be a continuing opportunity for niche and best-of-breed ERP systems to
capture market share in 2013. Larger ERP vendors will continue to provide more
niche solutions to counter the advent of these smaller cloud providers. Vendors
like Oracle and Infor, with their best-of-breed solution focus, will be better
positioned to respond to customer demand of this type. In addition, look for this
trend to continue driving merger and acquisition activity as more ERP vendors
look for industry solutions to augment their core ERP systems.

• ERP vendors continued their acquisition spree in 2012, such as SAP’s purchase of
Ariba, Oracle’s acquisition of SelectMinds HCM software, and Epicor’s
acquisition of Solarsoft.
(LO: 8, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise
resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

7. Using your own knowledge and intuition, how do you think mobile systems and the
cloud will affect ERP solutions? Explain how mobile ERP might benefit the types of
personnel shown in Figure 7-15.

There is no doubt that ERP solutions will be affected by mobile systems and the
cloud. ERP vendors are challenged at this time because their systems are built on
very complex, non-cloud-based architectures. These systems will not be easy to
change, but ERP customers are going to start demanding some of the benefits of
cloud systems and access to ERP systems via mobile devices. Any of the roles in
Figure 7-15 could benefit from mobile ERP, especially the salesperson role. ERP
vendors are currently investing billions of dollars in acquiring companies with
knowledge/solutions in mobile and cloud-based computing. (LO: 8, Learning
Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise resource planning,
AACSB: Analytic Skills)

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 7

COLLABORATION EXERCISE 7
The County Planning Office

1. Explain why the processes in Figure 7-23 and 7-24 are classified as enterprise
processes rather than as departmental processes. Why are these processes not
considered to be interorganizational processes?

These processes span the entire enterprise including several different departments, but
do not span separate organizations. Therefore they are considered enterprise systems,
not departmental and not interorganizational. (LO: 1, Learning Outcome: Describe
the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise resource planning, AACSB: Analytic
Skills)

2. Using Figure 7-8 as an example, redraw Figure 7-23 using an enterprise information
system that processes a shared database. Explain the advantages of this system over
the paper-based system in Figure 7-23.

The process is sequential and each stage can take quite a bit of time. With the old
system, there is no way to know where an application was in the process, and finding
an application sitting in someone’s inbox could be difficult. With the new system, it
will be easy to track the application and know its status, plus it can be routed to the
correct next step immediately. (LO: 5, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of
enterprise systems and enterprise resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

3. Using Figure 7-10 as an example, redraw Figure 7-24 using an enterprise

information system that processes a shared database. Explain the advantages of this
system over the paper-based system in Figure 7-24.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 8

The advantage of this system over the paper-based system is that there is no expense
to copy the application and send copies to each department for review. The
departments can work simultaneously and can also see the results of the other
departments’ analyses that are recorded in the centralized database. (LO: 5, Learning
Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise resource planning,
AACSB: Analytic Skills)

4. Assuming that the county has just changed from the system in Figure 7-23 to the one
in Figure 7-24, which of your answers in questions 2 and 3 do you think is better?
Justify your answer.

The ability to work simultaneously and also to have access to the results of the other
department’s work tips the balance in favor of the solution in question 3. This
workflow should be more efficient and effective than that shown in question 2. (LO:
5, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise resource
planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

5. Assume your team is in charge of the implementation of the system you recommend in
your answer to question 4. Describe how each of the four challenges discussed in Q5
pertain to this implementation. Explain how your team will deal with those
challenges.

• Collaborative management – There is no single manager of the process so all of

the departments have to coordinate to complete the process. Disputes will have to
be resolved with a collaborative process, which probably does not currently exist.
• Requirements gaps – An enterprise software solution will probably not fit the
needs of this system exactly, so the organization usually must adapt to the
software’s processes.
• Transition problems – Changing to the new system will be challenging to the
organization and will cause some disruption in productivity.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 9

• Employee resistance – The employee’s natural resistance to change and fear of

change must be overcome through leadership and training.
(LO: 6, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise
resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

CASE STUDY 7
Using the PRIDE Database

1. Explain the advantages of locating the PRIDE database in the cloud. Dr. Flores and
his partners could place it on one of their own servers in the practice. Give reasons
why it would be unwise for them to do so.

It is best to locate the PRIDE database in the cloud so that we are certain that the
database conforms to the service-oriented architecture (SOA) standards. This will
ensure that as the PRIDE system evolves, different development teams can work with
PRIDE easily and effectively. Also, by using SOA standards, cloud resource requests
and releases are handled as needed. (LO: 7, Learning Outcome: Discuss the key
issues involved in managing the components of IT infrastructure, AACSB: Analytic
Skills)

2. Explain the origin of Figures 7-26 and 7-27. What application created each? Where
did the data for constructing the tables in Figure 7-27 arise? Using your intuition and
database knowledge, explain how the relationship between Person and Workout is
defined in Figure 7-26. What coding in Figure 7-26 ensures that every row in
Workout will correspond to some row in Person?

Figure 7-26 was created by Microsoft’s Windows Azure Platform, used to create and
administer SQL Azure cloud databases. The SQL statements needed to create the
Workout table in the PRIDE V1 database are listed. Figure 7-27 was created by
Visual Studio, used to build applications and manage databases. Visual Studio
accessed PRIDE V1 in the cloud, read the database’s metadata, and constructed the
representation of the three tables, fields, and relationships shown in Figure 7-27.
The field PersonID (primary key of the Person table) is a foreign key in the Workout
table and is a required field (not null); therefore, a workout record cannot be added
without a personID in the record. (LO: 7, Learning Outcome: Discuss best practices
for using and managing databases, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

3. Explain how the Store Exercise Prescriptions application in Figure 7-22 will use the
tables shown in Figure 7-28.

The health care professional (who must have a record in the HealthCareProfessional
table, will select a profile from the Profile table (or create a new Profile record) and
will assign that profile to a specific patient (who must have a record in the Person
table), which will create a new record in the ProfilePrescription table. (LO: 7,

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 10

Learning Outcome: Discuss best practices for using and managing databases,
AACSB: Analytic Skills)

4. Explain how the Store Exercise Data application in Figure 7-22 will use the tables
shown in Figure 7-28.

The Store Exercise Data application provides a way for data generated by exercise
machines to be stored in the Workout table. To record the workout, a PersonID and
the WorkoutDate must be known in order to create the Workout record. (LO: 7,
Learning Outcome: Discuss best practices for using and managing databases,
AACSB: Analytic Skills)

5. Explain how the Report Patient Exercise application in Figure 7-22 will use the
tables shown in Figure 7-28.

The Report Patient Exercise application will draw data from potentially all the tables
in Figure 7-28, depending on the report recipient. The purpose of this application is
to provide summaries of the person’s workout performance and may include
information from the exercise prescription given by the health care provider for
comparison purposes. (LO: 7, Learning Outcome: Discuss best practices for using
and managing databases, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

6. Data in the Person table most likely duplicates data in health clubs’ membership
databases as well as data in healthcare providers’ patient databases. Will this
duplication create problems for the health clubs, healthcare providers, and PRIDE
users? If not, say why not. If so, give two examples of problems and suggest ways that
those problems can be solved.

Yes, this duplication of Person data certainly could create problems. For example, if
a person’s address changes, it will be necessary for the correct address to be recorded
in the physician’s patient database, the health club’s database, and the PRIDE
database. If a person lets his membership lapse at the health club, this fact needs to
be reflected in the PRIDE database. In each of these two examples, the best way for
these problems to be solved is to have thought through all the ways in which data
integrity problems could exist between the content of PRIDE and the other
organization’s databases and have clear-cut procedures developed to guide the correct
maintenance of the data in both databases when changes occur. Another way to
prevent this data duplication problem is for health care providers to store their patient
data only in PRIDE and health clubs store their membership data only in PRIDE, but
that solution is unlikely at this stage of PRIDE’s development plus introduces a whole
new array of interorganizational challenges. (LO: 7, Learning Outcome: Discuss best
practices for using and managing databases, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

7. Explain the ways in which the PRIDE database eliminates possible enterprise-level
information silos. Explain ways that it might create another form of information silo.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Kroenke - Using MIS 6th Ed. - Instructor’s Manual 11

Prior to the implementation of PRIDE, data pertaining to patients, their exercise

prescriptions, and their exercise performance and progress are in information silos.
The physician can prescribe exercise regimens for their patients, but these
prescriptions are transmitted to patients, their families/caregivers, and possibly
personal trainers/health clubs, in paper form. These paper forms are easily lost and so
are not immediately accessible to those who need to see them. If the patient joins a
health club or hires a personal trainer, the health club/personal trainer will have
records of the patient’s exercise performance and progress, but this data is not
available to the physician or family/caregivers. Finally, any exercise performed by
the patient at home may be recorded by the exercise equipment, but this data is not
available to the physician, family/caregivers, or to the health club/personal trainer.
The lack of integrated information means that it is much more difficult to have an
accurate understanding of the patient’s exercise prescription and his/her performance
and progress.

The PRIDE project makes it possible for all of this data to be stored in the cloud and
made available through various applications to the parties that need the information.
Each interested party (physician, patient, family/caregiver, and personal trainer/health
club) will have the ability to add data to PRIDE and to view the appropriate
information from PRIDE. This will enable a much more comprehensive program of
care for the patient and much more accurate oversight of the patient’s recovery
progress.

The new information silo created by PRIDE comes from the fact that the PRIDE
system duplicates Person data that is also found in the health care provider’s patient
system and the health club’s membership system. This data duplication may cause
data integrity issues between PRIDE and the other systems of PRIDE constituents.
(LO: 7, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise systems and enterprise
resource planning, AACSB: Analytic Skills)

8. Given what you know so far, do you think the PRIDE system is likely to be
successful? Explain your answer.

Student opinions on this issue will vary. Challenge your students to justify their
opinion and challenge their assumptions. A key element of PRIDE’s success will be
the acceptance of the system by its users (people experiencing cardiac problems).
What proportion of that population will embrace being monitored in the ways
envisioned with PRIDE? (LO: 7, Learning Outcome: Describe the uses of enterprise
systems and enterprise resource planning, AACSB: Reflective Thinking Skills)

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
form, as he was in his court, and Gabriel said to him: “This fellow
here possesses ninety and nine sheep, but I have only one, and that
I love, and cherish in my bosom. This man claims my little ewe lamb,
and will take it from me, and, if I will not give it him, he says that he
will slay me; and take my lamb from me by force.”
Then David’s anger was kindled against Michael, and he said, “Thou
who hast so many sheep, wherefore lustest thou after the poor
man’s ewe lamb? Thou hast an evil heart and an insatiable spirit.”
Then Michael exclaimed, “Thou hast given judgment against thyself;
what thou rebukest in this man, thou hast allowed thyself to do!”[653]
And David knew that God had sent His angels to rebuke him, and he
fell upon his face to the ground. But, some say, he drew his sword
and rushed upon Michael: then Gabriel held him back, and said,
“Thou didst ask to be tried; now thou hast fallen under the
temptation.”[654]
Then the angels vanished, and David fell to the ground, tore off his
purple robe, cast aside his golden crown, and wept for forty days and
forty nights. And his tears flowed in such abundance, that every now
and then he plunged a cup into them and drank it off.
At the expiration of forty days Gabriel came to him, and said, “The
Lord salutes thee!” But David felt this was an additional reproach,
and he wept still more. It is said that during the ensuing forty days
and nights David shed more tears than Adam and all his
descendants had, and will, shed from the day of the Fall to the day of
the Resurrection.
Then God sent Gabriel to him again, and Gabriel said, “The Lord
salutes thee!” But David lifted his tearful face and said, “O Gabriel,
what will Uriah say to me on the day of the general Resurrection?”
Gabriel answered, “The Lord will give him so great an inheritance in
Paradise, that he will not have the heart to reproach thee.”
Then David knew that he was pardoned, and he rejoiced greatly. But
he never forgot his sins. He wrote them on the palm of his hand, that
he might have them always before him; therefore he says, “My
shame is ever before mine eyes.”
Nevertheless David’s heart was lifted up with pride, when he
considered that he was a king, a prophet, and a great general. And
one day he said to Nathan, “I think I am perfect, I have everything.”
“Not so,” answered Nathan, “thou exercisest no handicraft.”
Then David was ashamed, and he asked God to teach him a craft;
and God made him skilful in fabricating coats of mail of rings twined
together; his trade therefore was that of an armourer, and his
disgrace was wiped away.
After his judgment between the two angels, David had no confidence
in giving sentence in cases pleaded before him; therefore God sent
him, by the hand of Gabriel, a reed of iron and a little bell, and the
angel said to him, “God is pleased with thy humility, and He has sent
thee this reed and this bell to assist thee in giving judgment. Place
this reed in thy judgment-hall, and hang up the bell in the middle,
and place the accuser on one side, and the accused on the other,
and give sentence in favour of him who makes the bell to tinkle when
he touches the reed.”
David was highly pleased with this gift, and he gave such righteous
judgment, that men feared, throughout the land, to do wrong to one
another.
One day, two men came before David, and one said, “I left a goodly
pearl in the charge of this man, and when I asked for it again, he
denied it me.”
But the other said, “I have returned it to him.”
Then David bade each lay his hand on the reed, but the bell gave
the same indication for both. Then David thought, “They both speak
the truth, and yet that cannot be; the gift of God must err.”
Then he bade the men try again, and the result was the same.
However, he observed that the defendant, when he went up to the
reed to lay his hand upon it, gave his walking staff to the plaintiff to
hold, and this he did each time, so that David’s suspicion was
awakened, and he took the staff, and examined it, and found that it
was hollow, and the stolen pearl was concealed in the handle. Thus
the bell had given right judgment, for when the accused touched the
reed, he had returned the pearl into the hand of the accuser; but
David by his doubt in the reed displeased Him who gave it, and the
reed and the bell were taken from him.
After that, David often gave wrong judgment, till Solomon, his son,
was of age to advise him.
One day, when Solomon was aged thirteen, there came two men
before the king. The first said, “I sold a house and cellar to this man,
and on digging in the cellar he found a treasure hidden there by my
forefathers. I sold him the house and cellar, but not the treasure. Bid
him restore to me what he has found.”
But the other said, “Not so. He sold me the house, the cellar, and all
its contents.”
Then King David said, “Let the treasure be divided, and let half go to
one, and half go to the other.”
But Solomon stood up and said to the plaintiff, “Hast thou not a
son?” He said, “I have.”
Then said Solomon to the defendant, “Hast thou not a daughter?” He
answered, “I have.”
“Then,” said Solomon, “give thy daughter to the son of this man who
sold thee the house, and let the treasure go as a marriage gift to thy
daughter and his son.” And all applauded this judgment.
On another occasion, a husbandman came before the judgment-seat
to lay complaint against a herdsman, whose sheep had broken into
his field, and had pastured on his young wheat.
Then King David said, “Let some of the sheep be given to the
husbandman.”
But Solomon stood up, and said, “Not so; let the husbandman have
the wool, and the milk of the flock, till the wheat is grown up again as
it was before the sheep destroyed it.”
And all wondered at his wisdom.
But the king’s elders and councillors were filled with envy, because
this child’s opinion was preferred before theirs; and they complained
to King David.
Then David said, “Call an assembly of the people, and prove
Solomon before them, whether he be learned in the Law, and
whether he have understanding and wit.”
So the people were assembled, and the elders took council together
how they might perplex him with hard questions. But or ever they
asked him, he answered what they had devised, and they were
greatly confounded, so that the people supposed this was a
preconcerted scene arranged by the king. Then, when the elders
were silenced, Solomon turned to their chief, and said, “I too will
prove you with questions. What you have asked me have been trials
of my learning, but what I will ask you shall put to proof the readiness
of your wits. What is all, and what is nothing? What is something,
and what is naught?”
The elder was silent; he thought, but he knew not what was the
answer. And all the people perplexed themselves to discover the
riddle, but they could not. Then said Solomon, “God is all, and the
world He made is as nothing before Him. The faithful is something,
but the hypocrite is naught.”
Thereupon he turned to a second, and he said: “What are most, and
what are fewest? What is the sweetest, and what is the bitterest?”
But when the second could find no solution to these questions,
Solomon answered, “Most men are unbelievers, the fewest have true
faith. The sweetest thing is the possession of a virtuous wife, good
children, and a competence; the bitterest thing is to have a
disreputable wife, disorderly children, and penury.”
Then Solomon turned to a third elder and asked: “What is the most
odious sight, and what is the most beautiful sight? What is the surest
thing, and what is that which is most insecure?”
And when this elder also was unable to give an answer, Solomon
interpreted his riddle once more, “The most odious sight is to see a
righteous man fall away; the most beautiful sight is to see a sinner
repent. The surest thing is death, the most insecure thing is life.”
After that Solomon said to all the people, “Ye see that the oldest and
the most learned men are not always the wisest. True wisdom
comes not with years, nor is derived from books, but is a gift of God
the All-wise.”
Solomon by his words threw the whole assembly into astonishment,
and all the heads of the people cried with one voice, “Praised be the
Lord, who has given to our king a son who surpasses all in wisdom,
and who is worthy to ascend the throne of his father David.”
And David thanked God that He had given him such a wise son, and
now he desired but one thing further of God, and that was to see him
who was to be his companion in Paradise; for to every man is
allotted by God one man to be his friend and comrade in the Land of
Bliss.
So David prayed to God, and his prayer was heard, and a voice fell
from heaven and bade him confer the kingdom upon his son
Solomon, and then to go forth, and the Lord would lead him to the
place where his companion dwelt.
David therefore had his son Solomon crowned king, and then he
went forth out of Jerusalem, and he was in pilgrim’s garb, with a staff
in his hand; and he went from city to city, and from village to village,
but he found not the man whom he sought. One day, after the lapse
of many weeks, he drew near to a village upon the borders of the
Mediterranean Sea, and alongside of him walked a poorly dressed
man laden with a heavy bundle of faggots. This man was very old
and reverend of aspect, and David watched him. He saw him
dispose of his wood and then give half the money he had obtained
by the sale of it to a poor person. After that he bought a piece of
bread and retired from the town. As he went, there passed a blind
woman, and the old man broke his bread in half, and gave one
portion to the woman; and he continued his course till he reached
the mountains from which he had brought his load in the morning.
David thought, “This man well deserves to be my companion for
eternity, for he is pious, charitable, and reverend of aspect: I must
ask his name.”
He went after the old man, and he found him in a cave among the
rocks, which was lighted by a rent above. David stood without and
heard the hermit pray, and read the Tora and the Psalms, till the sun
went down. Then he lighted a lamp and began his evening prayers;
and when they were finished, he drew forth the piece of bread, and
ate the half of it.
David, who had not ventured to interrupt the devotions of the old
hermit, now entered the cave and saluted him.
The hermit asked, “Who art thou? I have seen no man here before,
save only Mata, son of Johanna, the companion destined to King
David in Paradise.”
David told his name, and asked after this Mata. But the aged man
could give him no information of his whereabouts. “But,” said he, “go
over these mountains, and observe well what thou lightest upon, and
it may be thou wilt find Mata.”
David thanked him, and continued his search. For long it was
profitless. He traversed the stony dales and the barren mountains,
and saw no trace of human foot. At last, just as hope was
abandoning him, on the summit of a rugged peak he saw a wet spot.
Then he stood still in surprise. “How comes there to be a patch of
soft and sloppy ground here?” he asked; “the topmost peak of a
stony mountain is not the place where springs bubble up.”
As he thus mused, an aged man came up the other side of the
mountain. His eyes were depressed to the earth, so that he saw not
David. And when he came to the wet patch, he stood still, and
prayed with such fervour, that rivulets of tears flowed out of his eyes,
and sank into the soil; and thus David learnt how it was that the
mountain-top was wet.
Then David thought, “Surely this man, whose eyes are such copious
fountains of tears, must be my companion in Paradise.”
Yet he ventured not to interrupt him in his prayer, till he heard him
ask, “O my God! pardon King David his sins, and save him from
further trespass! for my sake be merciful to him, for Thou hast
destined him to be my comrade for all eternity!”
Then David ran towards him, but the old man tottered and fell, and
before the king reached him he was dead.
So David dug into the ground which had been moistened by the
tears of Mata, and laid him there, and said the funeral prayer over
him, and covered him with the earth, and then returned to
Jerusalem.
And when he came into his harem, the Angel of Death stood there
and greeted him with the words, “God has heard thy supplications;
now has thy life reached its end.”
Then David said, “The Lord’s will be done!” and he fell down upon
the ground, and expired.
Gabriel descended to comfort Solomon, and to give him a heavenly
shroud in which to wrap David. And all Israel followed the bier to
Machpelah, where Solomon laid him by the side of Abraham and
Joseph.[655]
It will doubtless interest the reader to have an English version of the
Psalm supposed to have been composed by David after the slaying
of Goliath, which is not included in the Psalter, as it is supposed to
be apocryphal.

Psalm CLI. (Pusillus eram).

1. I was small among my brethren; and growing up in my father’s
house I kept my father’s sheep.
2. My hands made the organ: and my fingers shaped the
psaltery.
3. And who declared unto my Lord! He, the Lord, He heard all
things.
4. He sent His angel, and He took me from my father’s sheep:
He anointed me in mercy with His unction.
5. Great and goodly are my brethren: but with them the Lord was
not well pleased.
6. I went to meet the stranger: and he cursed me by all his idols.
 7. But I smote off his head with his own drawn sword: and I
blotted out the reproach of Israel.

This simple and beautiful psalm does not exist in Hebrew, but is
found, in Greek, in some psalters of the Septuagint version, headed
“A Psalm of David when he had slain Goliath.” S. Athanasius
mentions it with praise, in his address to Marcellinus on the
Interpretation of the Psalms, and in the Synopsis of Holy Scripture. It
was versified in Greek in A.D. 360, by Apollinarius Alexandrinus.[656]
The subjoined shield of David is given in a Hebrew book on the
properties and medicaments of things. It is said to be a certain
protection against fire. A cake of bread must be made, and on it
must be impressed the seal or shield of David, having in the corner
the word ‫ ט״יר‬and in the middle ‫( אנ״לא‬Thou art mighty to everlasting,
O Jehovah); and it must be cast aside into the fire with the words of
Psalm cvi. 30, “Then stood up Phinees and prayed; and so the
plague ceased;” and also Exod. xii. 27, “It is the sacrifice of the
Lord’s pass-over, who passed over the houses of the children of
Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our
homes.”[657]
 XXXVIII.
SOLOMON.[658]
 1. HOW SOLOMON OBTAINED POWER.

After Solomon had executed the last offices for his father, he rested
in a dale betwixt Hebron and Jerusalem, and fell asleep. As he
returned to himself, there stood before him eight angels, each with
countless wings, diverse in kinds and colours; and the angels bowed
themselves before him three times.
“Who are ye?” asked Solomon, with eyes still closed.
“We are the angels ruling over the eight winds of heaven,” was their
reply. “God hath sent us to give thee dominion over ourselves and
over the winds subject to us. They will storm and bluster, or breathe
softly, at thy pleasure. At thy command they will swoop down on
earth, and bear thee over the highest mountains.”
The greatest of the angels gave him a jewel inscribed with “God is
Power and Greatness,” and said, “When thou hast a command for
us, then raise this stone towards heaven, and we shall appear before
thee as thy servants.”
When these angels had taken their departure, there appeared four
more, of whom each was unlike the other. One was in fashion as a
great whale, another as an eagle, the third as a lion, and the fourth
as a serpent. And they said, “We are they who rule over all the
creatures that move in the earth, and air, and water; and God hath
sent us to give thee dominion over all creatures, that they may serve
thee and thy friends with all good, and fight against thine enemies
with all their force.”
The angel who ruled over the winged fowls extended to Solomon a
precious stone, with the inscription, “Let all creatures praise the
Lord!” and said, “By virtue of this stone, raised above thy head, canst
thou call us to thy assistance, and to fulfil thy desire.”
Solomon immediately ordered the angels to bring before him a pair
of every living creature that moves in the water, flies in the air, and
walks or glides or creeps on the earth.
The angels vanished, and in an instant they were before Solomon
once more, and there were assembled in his sight pairs of every
creature, from the elephant to the smallest fly.
Solomon conversed with the angels, and was instructed by them in
the habits, virtues, and names of all living creatures; he listened to
the complaints of the beasts, birds, and fishes, and by his wisdom he
rectified many evil customs amongst them.
He entertained himself longest with the birds, both on account of
their beautiful speech, which he understood, and also because of the
wise sentences which they uttered.
This is the signification of the cry of the peacock: “With what
measure thou judgest others, thou shalt thyself be judged.”
This is the song of the nightingale: “Contentment is the greatest
happiness.”
The turtle dove calls, “Better were it for some created things that
they had never been created.”
The peewit pipes, “He that hath no mercy, will not find mercy
himself.”
The bird syrdar cries, “Turn to the Lord, ye sinners!”
The swallow screams, “Do good, and ye shall receive a reward.”
This is the pelican’s note: “Praise the Lord in heaven and earth.”
The dove chants, “The fashion of this world passeth away, but God
remaineth eternal.”
The kata says, “Silence is the best safeguard.”
The cry of the eagle is, “However long life may be, yet its inevitable
term is death.”
The croak of the raven is, “The further from man, the happier I.”
The cock crows before the dawn and in the day, “Remember thy
Creator, O thoughtless man!”
Solomon chose the cock and the peewit to be his constant
companions—the first because of its cry, and the second because it
can see through the earth as through glass, and could therefore tell
him where fountains of water were to be found.
After he had stroked the dove, he bade her dwell with her young in
the temple he was about to build to the honour of the Most High.
This pair of doves, in a few years, multiplied to such an extent, that
all who sought the temple moved through the quarter of the town it
occupied under the shadow of the wings of doves.
When Solomon was again alone, an angel appeared to him, whose
upper half was like to earth, and whose lower half was like to water.
He bowed himself before the king and said, “I am created by God to
do His will on the dry land and in the watery sea. Now, God has sent
me to serve thee, and thou canst rule over earth and water. At thy
command the highest mountains will be made plain, and the level
land will rise into steep heights. Rivers and seas will dry up, and the
desert will stream with water at thy command.” Then he gave to him
a precious stone, with the legend engraved thereon, “Heaven and
earth serve God.”
Finally, an angel presented to him another stone, whereon was cut,
“There is no God save God, and Mohammed is the messenger of
God.”
“By means of this stone,” said the angel, “thou shalt have dominion
over the whole world of spirits, which is far greater than that of men
and beasts, and occupies the space between earth and heaven. One
portion of the spirits is faithful, and praises the One only God; the
other portion is unfaithful: some adore fire, others the sun, others
worship the planets, many revere winter. The good spirits surround
the true believers among men, and protect them from all evil; the evil
spirits seek to injure them and deceive them.”
Solomon asked to see the Jinns in their natural and original shape.
The angel shot like a column of flame into heaven, and shortly
returned with the Satans and Jinns in great hosts: and Solomon,
though he had power over them, shuddered with disgust at their
loathsome appearance. He saw men’s heads attached to the necks
of horses, whose feet were those of an ass; the wings of an eagle
attached to the hump of a dromedary; the horns of a gazelle on the
head of a peacock.[659]
 2. HOW SOLOMON FEASTED ALL FLESH.

When Solomon returned home, he placed the four stones, which the
angels had given him, in a ring, so that he might at any moment
exercise his authority over the realms of spirits and beasts, the earth,
the winds, and the sea.
His first care was to subject the Jinns. He made them all appear
before him, with the exception of the mighty Sachr, who kept himself
in concealment on an unknown island in the ocean, and the great
Eblis, the master of all evil spirits, to whom God had promised
complete liberty till the day of the last Judgment.
When all the demons were assembled, Solomon pressed his seal
upon their necks, to mark them as his slaves. Then he commanded
all the male Jinns to collect every sort of material for the construction
of the temple he was about to build. He bade also the female Jinns
cook, bake, wash, weave, and carry water; and what they made he
distributed amongst the poor. The meats they cooked were placed
on tables, which covered an area of four square miles; and daily
thirty thousand portions of beef, as many portions of mutton, and
very many birds and fishes were devoured. The Jinns and devils sat
at iron tables, the poor at tables of wood, the heads of the people at
silver tables, the wise and pious at tables of gold; and these latter
were served by Solomon in person.
One day, when all spirits, men, beasts, and birds rose satisfied from
the tables, Solomon besought God to permit him to feed to the full all
created animals at once. God replied that he demanded an
impossibility. “But,” said he, “try, to-morrow, what thou canst do to
satisfy the dwellers in the sea.”
On the morrow, accordingly, Solomon bade the Jinns lade a hundred
thousand camels and the same number of mules with corn, and lead
them to the sea-shore. He then cried to the fishes and said: “Come,
ye dwellers in the water, eat and be satisfied!”
Then came all manner of fishes to the surface of the water, and
Solomon cast the corn to them, and they ate and were satisfied, and
dived out of sight. But all at once a whale lifted his head above the
surface, and it was like a mountain. Solomon bade the spirits pour
one sack of corn after another down the throat of the monster, till all
the store was exhausted, there remained not a single grain. But the
whale cried, “Feed me, Solomon! feed me! never have I suffered
from hunger as I have this day!”
Solomon asked the whale if there were any more in the deep like
him. The fish answered: “There are of my race as many as a
thousand kinds, and the smallest is so large that thou wouldst seem
in its belly to be but a sand-grain in the desert.”
Solomon cast himself upon the earth, and began to weep, and
prayed to God to pardon him for his presumption.
“My kingdom,” called to him the Most High, “is far greater than thine.
Stand up, and behold one creature over which no man has yet
obtained the mastery.”
Then the sea began to foam and toss, as though churned by the
eight winds raging against it, and out of the tumbling brine rose the
Leviathan, so great that it could easily have swallowed seven
thousand whales such as that which Solomon had attempted to feed;
and the Leviathan cried, with a voice like the roar of thunder:
“Praised be God, who by His mighty power preserves me from
perishing by hunger.”[660]
 3. THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE.[661]

When Solomon returned from the sea-shore to Jerusalem, he heard

the noise of the hammers, and saws, and axes of the Jinns who
were engaged in the building of the temple; and the noise was so
great that the inhabitants of Jerusalem could not hear one another
speak. Therefore he commanded the Jinns to cease from their work,
and he asked them if there was no means whereby the metals and
stones could be shaped and cut without making so much noise.
Then one of the spirits stepped forth and said: “The means is known
only to the mighty Sachr, who has hitherto escaped your authority.”
“Is it impossible to capture this Sachr?” asked Solomon.
“Sachr,” replied the Jinn, “is stronger than all the rest of us together,
and he excels us in speed as he does in strength. However, I know
that once every month he goes to drink of a fountain in the land of
Hidjr; by this, O king, thou mayest be able to bring him under thy
sceptre.”
Solomon, thereupon, commanded a Jinn to fly to Hidjr, and to empty
the well of water, and to fill it up with strong wine. He bade other
Jinns remain in ambush beside the well and watch the result.[662]
After some weeks, when Solomon was pacing his terrace before his
palace, he saw a Jinn flying, swifter than the wind, from the direction
of Hidjr, and he asked, “What news of Sachr?”
“Sachr lies drunk on the edge of the fountain,” said the Jinn; “and we
have bound him with chains as thick as the pillars of the temple;
nevertheless, he will snap them as the hair of a maiden, when he
wakes from his drunken sleep.”
Solomon instantly mounted the winged Jinn and bade him transport
him to the well at Hidjr. In less than an hour he stood beside the
intoxicated demon. He was not a moment too soon, for the fumes of
the wine were passing off, and, if Sachr had opened his eyes,
Solomon would have been unable to constrain him. But now he
pressed his signet upon the nape of his neck: Sachr uttered a cry so
that the earth rocked on its foundations.
“Fear not,” said Solomon, “mighty Jinn; I will restore thee to liberty if
thou wilt tell me how I may without noise cut and shape the hardest
metals.”
“I myself know no means,” answered the demon; “but the raven can
tell thee how to do this. Take the eggs out of the raven’s nest and
place a crystal cover upon them, and thou shalt see how the raven
will break it.”
Solomon followed the advice of Sachr. A raven came, and fluttered
some time round the cover, and seeing that she could not reach her
eggs, she vanished, and returned shortly with a stone in her beak,
named Samur or Schamir; and no sooner had she touched the
crystal therewith, than it clave asunder.
“Whence hast thou this stone?” asked Solomon of the raven.
“It comes from a mountain in the far west,” replied the bird.
Solomon commanded a Jinn to follow the raven to the mountain, and
to bring him more of these stones. Then he released Sachr as he
had promised. When the chains were taken off him, he uttered a
loud cry of joy, which, in Solomon’s ears, bore an ominous sound as
of mocking laughter.
When the Jinn returned with the stone Schamir, Solomon mounted a
Jinn and was borne back to Jerusalem, where he distributed the
stones amongst the Jinns, and they were able to cut the rocks for the
temple without noise.[663]
Solomon also made an ark of the covenant ten ells square, and he
sought to bring it into the Holy of Holies that he had made; and when
he sought to bring the ark through the door of the temple, the door
was ten ells wide. Now, that was the width of the ark, and ten ells will
not go through ten ells. Then, when Solomon saw that the ark would
not pass through the door, he was ashamed and cried, “Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and the King of Glory shall come in!” Then the
gates tottered, and would have fallen on his head to punish what
they supposed to be a blasphemy, for the doors thought that by “the
King of Glory” he meant himself; and they cried to him in anger,
“Who is the King of Glory?” and he answered, “It is the Lord of
Hosts, He is the King of Glory.” And because the doors were so
zealous for the honour of God, the Lord promised them that they
should never fall into the hands of the enemies of Israel. Therefore,
when the temple was burnt and the treasures were carried into
Babylon, the gates sank into the earth and vanished. And to this the
prophet Jeremiah refers (Lament, ii. 9).[664]
Solomon also built him a palace, with great riches in gold, and silver,
and precious stones, like no king that was before him. Many of the
halls had crystal floors and crystal roofs. He had a fountain of liquid
brass.[665] He had also a carpet five hundred parasangs in length;
and whenever the carpet was spread, three hundred thrones of gold
and silver were placed on it, and Solomon bade the birds of the air
spread their wings over them for a shade.[666] He built a throne for
himself of sandal wood, encrusted with gold and precious stones.
 4. THE TRAVELS OF SOLOMON.

Whilst the palace was being built, Solomon made a journey to

Damascus. The Jinn, on whose back he flew, carried him directly
over the valley of ants, which is surrounded by such crags and
precipices, that no man had hitherto seen it. The king was much
astonished to see such a host of ants under him, which were as big
as wolves, and which, on account of their grey eyes and grey feet,
looked from a distance like a cloud. The queen of the ants, who, till
this moment, had not seen a man, was filled with fear when she
beheld Solomon, and she cried to her host, “Hie to your holes, fly!”
But God commanded her not to fear, and to summon all her
subjects, and to anoint Solomon king of all insects. Solomon, who
heard the words of God, and the answer of the queen from a
distance of many miles, borne to him upon the wind, descended into
the valley beside the queen. Immediately the whole valley was filled
with ants, as far as the eye could see.
Solomon asked the queen, “Why didst thou fear me, being
surrounded with such a countless and mighty host?”
“I fear God alone,” answered the queen; “if any danger were to
threaten my subjects, at a sign from me seven times as many would
instantly appear.”
“Wherefore then didst thou command the ants to fly to their holes
when I appeared?”
“Because I feared they would look with wonder and reverence on
thee, and thereby for a moment forget their Creator.”
“I am greater than thou,” added the queen of the ants.
“How so?” asked Solomon in surprise.
“Because thou hast a metal throne, but my throne is thy hand, on
which I now repose,” said the ant.